The Forces of Hope
by The Dragon Legend
Summary: A Forces adaptation in which Tails is less wimpy, Shadow's part of the story is expanded upon, and the plot is generally taken more seriously.
1. Infinite Possibilities

**So, it's been three years since I wrote anything. This is due primarily to a lack of ideas. And then I played Forces. It was okay overall, the gameplay is solid enough, and I appreciate quite a few things the game dose character-wise. The problems here are 1. too short, and 2. the game doesn't take it's plot seriously enough. Everything is set up for a dark story, and then there's no follow-through. It's the later problem I hope to rectify with this adaptation. Hope you enjoy!**

The Forces of Hope

Eggman sat at his desk, trying to think of a new plan. "Ugh! Is there anything I haven't thrown at that blasted hedgehog yet?"

Suddenly the space in front of Eggman seemed to distort. He leaned back in surprise and reached for a scanner. Before he could scan the anomaly, a red stone flew out of the distortion and struck him in the face. Eggman fell to the floor with a cry of pain. The anomaly disappeared without a trace.

Eggman looked at the stone. "What the hell is this and where did it come from?" He took it to his lab to study it.

A few hours later, Orbot and Cubot brought Eggman his lunch. The sight of the stone made them curious. "Is that a chaos emerald?" Cubot asked.

"No, this appears to be something entirely different. My readings indicate there is a large amount of power contained inside, but it is nothing like the chaos emeralds."

"Well, where did you get it?" question Orbot.

"Well, that's the strangest thing. It just appeared in here. I have no idea how it got here or what it even does."

Just then alarms stared going off, and explosions sounded in the distance. "Sir!" Orbot cried, "A group of mobians is attacking the base!"

"Then do something about it!" Eggman was panicking. How had they found him already? He didn't even have time to build that many robots yet!

Then there was a loud bang on the lab door. Eggman grabbed the strange stone and tried to run. The door was knocked off its hinges and several figures raced into the lab. Eggman was terrified but then quickly realized that not a single one of them was Sonic. In fact, he didn't recognize any of them!

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Eggman demanded in an attempt to establish some authority.

One of them stepped forward. "We're just here to get some of your equipment. There are a lot of companies willing to pay top dollar for this junk." Then he saw the red stone in Eggman's hands. "That looks valuable."

The jackal pulled out a sword and pointed it at him. "How's about you hand that over?"

Eggman backed up thinking, _I need more robots!_

And suddenly, there were more robots.

Everyone stared in shock. "Where did they come from?" the jackal shouted.

Just a moment ago, there had been only a few robots in the room. Now, the mobians were surrounded. Eggman was amazed that his wish had been granted. But how? He looked at the gem in his hands. Was this its power? Deciding to test his hypothesis, he tried imagining Metal Sonic. Sure enough, the blue robot appeared as well.

Eggman turned his attention back to the intruders, now filled with confidence. "I will now accept your surrender."

"How did you do that?"

"I can do many things" Eggman boasted, not about to tell them that he had no idea what he was doing. "Now I could just dispose of you right here and now, but I am impressed you were able to find my secret laboratory. I could use your skills. And in return for your loyalty, I can provide you with more wealth than you can image."

Th mobians looked to their jackal leader, waiting for him to decide. He thought about his options. "Alright. We are at your service."

"Excellent! You can start by cleaning up the mess you made."

The mercenaries obeyed and left. Eggman examined the robots that had appeared out of thin air. He attempted to take one apart, but it vanished.

Eggman was confused. Were they even real? He reached out poked the robot nearest him. It felt real. Eggman then turn to the dart board he had with a picture of Sonic on it. He instructed the robot to shoot it. The robot did as told and the dart board was destroyed.

"Hmm. They aren't exactly real, but they can impact the real world." A smile creeped across Eggman's face. "I can create anything just by thinking about it? The possibilities are INFINIT!"


	2. I am not Weak

**Edit: fixed an error.**

The Forces of Hope

Shadow was running through a canyon. He was going to meet up with Omega who was supposed to be doing recon on a possible Eggman location. He contacted his teammates. "I'm almost there. Omega, how's it look over there?"

"Well, Omega doesn't understand anything about stealth or subtlety" Rouge said, exasperated.

"That's you get for sending a trigger-happy robot to do your job" Shadow chided her.

"If I destroy all winesses, then no one will know I was here" Omega justified.

"That's not how stealth works!"

"Whatever. I take it this means you found Eggman?" Shadow asked.

"I do not see him, but there are lots of robots here. Or at least there used to be" Omega reported. "Wait, one hostile remains. Wait, ten hostiles remain. Fifty hostiles remain. Now, a hundred hostiles. Recalculating… I might require back-up."

This worried Shadow. If Omega of all people was concerned about the numbers against him… "Hang on, I'm coming."

"Heavy damage sustained."

"Omega, what happened?"

"Error! Error! Error!"

"What's going on over there?"

"Losing power."

Shadow ran faster.

"…"

"Omega come in."

"…"

"Omega!"

Shadow peered around anxiously. He should be at Omega's location, but he couldn't see the robot anywhere.

"Well, Shadow, we meet again."

Shadow turned, and saw a jackal wearing a mask and floating above the ground.

"Who are you and what did you do to Omega?"

"Oh, you mean that pitiful excuse for a war machine?" the jackal sneered and pointed to a pile of broken mechanical parts.

"You'll pay for that" Shadow's voice was low and dangerous.

"You will not defeat me so easily this time."

Shadow's anger was momentarily replaced with confusion. "'This time?' What are you talking about? I don't know who you are."

"You don't remember me? I suppose that day didn't mean all that much to you did it? But that was the most important day of my life.

* * *

One month ago…

Shadow slid down the enormous natural waterslide. This, as much as anything, was why Shadow was sure Eggman was in the area. The man had a weird obsession with amusement parks, and this saved him from having to build his own water slides.

Shadow reached the end of the slide, and was immediately attacked. Acting on instinct, Shadow used chaos blast and flung his attackers away. It was then that he realized that they were not robots, but mobians.

They were also dead.

Shadow didn't spare any remorse for them. They had attacked him and brought their fate upon themselves. He was however, curious. Why had they attacked him? Shadow then saw a radio on the ground. Maybe this would give him a clue.

Eggman's voice can through, "Well? Did you get him?"

"No, they didn't. Why did you send mercenaries after me anyway?"

"Ah! Somebody do something!"

A new voice came on the radio, "Don't worry, I got him."

Deciding that the radio was of no more use to him, Shadow dropped it and continued on his way. He saw the attack coming this time, since the attacker was foolish enough to announce his intentions over the radio. When the jackal jumped out from the trees, Shadow teleported out of way and spent the next five seconds beating the snot out of him.

"How could you defeat me so easily? How could I be so weak?" the jackal sounded pathetic.

"You're comparing yourself to the ultimate lifeform. Of course you're going to be weak in comparison. Here's a little advice, stay out of my way or you're going to end up the others."

Shadow left without giving the jackal another thought. The jackal lay in the dirt.

"I am not weak. I am not weak!"

* * *

Present…

"After that day, Doctor Eggman found a way to make me stronger. Gave me power unlike anything you've ever seen before."

The red gemstone on the jackal's chest glowed brightly and blinded Shadow. When his vision cleared, he found himself in Green Hill.

"What?" Shadow felt very confused. What was he doing in Green Hill?

Rouge's voice came though his communicator. "Shadow what are you doing? We have to find Omega remember?"

"Uh… right" Finding Omega definitely sounded familiar, but something seemed wrong with the location.

Deciding to look around anyway, Shadow found himself dodging floating red cubes. He was pretty sure those weren't there before. A strange red haze had draped itself over his vison, and he found himself filled with a growing sense of unease.

Then he found Omega. "There you are, Omega. Do you know what's going on? Something seems wrong here."

"I am not weak."

"What? I didn't say you w-"

"I am not weak!"

"I know but-"

"I AM NOT WEAK!"

"You're really creeping me out-"

" **I AM NOT WEAK!** "

Shadow once again found himself blinded by red light, and when it cleared, found himself somewhere else entirely. He was alone in the middle of a desert, with no land marks in sight.

He reached for his communicator. "Rouge? Rouge come in!"

There was no answer.

Shadow knew he had to get back to base, but which way? He picked a random direction and started skating, hoping that his speed would get him to civilization before too long. After what felt like an hour, Shadow saw a big cloud of smoke on the horizon. Since it was the first thing he had seen that wasn't sand, Shadow headed for it.

As he got closer, he was able to make out a city in the distance. Many of the buildings were on fire. As he got even closer, he realized why. There were large robots stomping around the city, destroying everything with powerful lasers.

Shadow raced towards the city, intending to fight the robots. He found the city completely overrun with robots that were destroying buildings and taking prisoners. G.U.N. soldiers were already on the scene, helping people evacuate and shooting ineffectually at the robots. Shadow rushed in to help out.

But when the soldiers saw him, they screamed and started shooting at him! Shadow avoided the bullets by teleporting in closer.

"Stop! It's just me! I'm here to help you."

"Help us? You wiped out seven squads in the last hour!"

"What are you talking about? I spent the last hour lost in the desert, and I don't even know how I got there!"

The soldiers were about to start shooting at him again, but one of the death egg robots fried them all with its laser. Shadow was left shocked and more confused than ever before.

"How did that random jackal guy get that kind of power? How did I end up in the middle of nowhere? Why do people think I'm attacking them?"

Shadow knew he would have to find his teammates and track down that jackal to find the answers, so he started looking.


	3. The resistance

The Forces of Hope

In the sewers beneath Station Square, a G.U.N. soldier was documenting all that had happened.

Day 90.

It's been three months since Eggman invaded. I've lost contact with central command. I'm the only remaining member of my squad. Everyone else was wiped out by this mysterious mobian in a mask. It was so weird. He was able to just spawn things out of nowhere. I managed to escape by crawling into the sewer. I spent all my time since trying to fix the radio, so I can hopefully contact somebody. I think I finally have it working so I'm going to try it out.

The soldier put down his makeshift diary and picked up his radio. It crackled to life and Eggman's voice came through.

"It's a beautiful morning in Eggmanland today! Please join me in singing the national anthem! Oh, Eggmanland-"

The soldier was saved from having to listen to Eggman's atrocious singing when another broadcast interrupted.

"Hello. Hello? Is this thing on? Oh, it's working? Hello, people of Mobius. My name is Knuckles the Echidna. I'm making this special announcement to tell you that hope is not lost. Sonic may be gone, but that's no reason to give up! Sonic wouldn't want us to! If we all work together, we can over-though Eggman's stupid empire! Those of you willing and able to fight, come to Angel Island!"

The signal cut out, and Eggman's voice returned.

"Sorry about that. Technical difficulties. We will now return to the national anthem."

The soldier switched off the radio. He made his way towards the swear exit. He wasn't sure how he was going to get to Angel Island, but he had to try. Maybe Knuckles would-

A searing pain impacted the soldier's chest as he stepped out of the sewer. The robot added the body to a cart labeled "Fugitives" and continued patrolling.

* * *

"Do you think anyone heard our message?" Silver look hopefully at Knuckles.

"If my friends are still alive they'll be here." Knuckles put the microphone down and surveyed the rest of the junk he and Silver had recently retrieved from Tails's workshop. The security had kept out Eggman's goons, but Knuckles had the passwords. Between his strength and Silver telekinesis, they were able to take pretty much everything.

"I'll keep the island at a low altitude to make it easier for them to get here. Normally I wouldn't do this, but we need all the help we can get."

Hours later, Rouge landed on the island. "Nice to know Eggman hasn't gotten his hands on the Master Emerald yet."

"Rouge, I swear, if you're thinking of trying for it now of all times…"

Rouge held up her hands. "I thought you wanted help?"

"Are you actually going to give some?" Knuckles glared suspiciously.

"I haven't tried to seriously take the Master Emerald in years."

"You haven't? Then why do you keep coming up here?"

"Because messing with you is fun."

"Uh, Rouge?" Silver interjected. "Can you explain why Shadow is helping Eggman?"

"He's probably being coerced. Either that or that's not really him."

"If it's not him, then where is Shadow? Why isn't he fighting Eggman? If it's coercion, what bargaining chip could last two hundred years?" Silver questioned.

"I don't know. The last I heard from Shadow he was going to help Omega who had run into trouble. I haven't seen or heard from either of them since then." Rouge sounded worried.

"Is it really that hard to believe that Shadow decided to try to kill us all again?" Knuckles asked bluntly.

"Yes, it is." Rouge put simply.

Just then, the Chaotix arrived, along with Amy.

Knuckles smiled at them. "Hey, you guys made it!"

"But Big and Cream didn't!" Amy cried "The robots took them away!"

"We'll try to find them and get them back." Silver assured her.

"So, what's the plan here?" Vector asked.

"We're going to keep looking for people willing to fight back against Eggman. And then we're gonna tear his empire down."


	4. Mania

The Forces of Hope

Three months later…

Vector returned to the island. Knuckles didn't need to ask how his recruitment mission had gone. The crocodile was alone.

"Ugh, this is pointless." Vector moaned. "Everyone is too afraid of Eggman."

"If can't build our numbers, then we'll never stand a chance against Eggman!" Amy exclaimed.

"Without Sonic, everyone just assumes the situation is hopeless." Espio observed.

"There has to be someone else out there willing to fight!" Knuckles asserted.

Then Silver flew in with a bloody figure held in his psychic grip. "Clear the table STAT!"

They placed the body on the table and tried to stop the bleeding.

"Silver, what happened?" Knuckles demanded.

"One of those death egg robots spotted me, and stepped on a building trying to get me. I destroyed the robot and found this guy in the rubble."

"I got a heartbeat! He's alive!" Espio reported.

* * *

Tails drew another 'X' on his map. "Not here either. Come on, Sonic. I know Eggman's keeping you somewhere."

It had been six months since Tails had last seen Sonic. While Sonic often disappeared for long stretches of time, he had never let it go so many months without visiting his brother.

Then Tails looked up and met Metal Sonic's red eyes.

"Lifeform known as Tails. Wanted for crimes against the Eggman Empire." Before Tails could blink, Metal had grabbed him by the scruff of his neck. "Prepare for termination."

While this was going on, a strange distortion appeared in the air above them. A blue ball of spikes flew out of it and slammed into Metal, making him drop Tails.

"Whoa, that was weird."

"Sonic!"

"Oh hey, Tails. Do you have any idea what that was all about?"

"Wait, you're younger Sonic." Tails observed now confused.

"Older Tails? Did I end up in the future?" The younger sonic looked around the dreary landscape with Eggman's face plastered everywhere. "I don't think I like this future."

Their conversation was interrupted when Metal Sonic got back up. "Enemy identified: Sonic the Hedgehog? Dose not compute."

"Don't worry, I'm just as confused as you are." Younger Sonic assured him and then spindashed him.

"Sonic, hold him in place for me!" Tails shouted.

Younger Sonic pinned Metal up against a wall. Tails threw an EMP grenade and it went off, shorting out every electronic device in a 5-meter radius. Except Metal appeared completely unaffected.

"What? How?" Tails was flabbergasted.

Metal Sonic charged the laser cannon in his chest. Younger Sonic jumped aside to avoid the blast.

"That's impossible! Metal should have been shorted out!" Tails shouted in dismay.

"Well he looks just fine to me!" Younger Sonic called back.

"Hold on, I think I got something!" Tails ran back to his plane.

The two blue hedgehogs exchanged high speed blows until Tails came back with a strange weapon.

"Sonic, get back!"

Tails pointed the weapon at Metal Sonic and flames erupted from the barrel, engulfing Metal in fire. Metal collapsed to the ground and Tails stopped torching him.

"Is he down?"

Metal Sonic reached up and tried to grab Tails, only for younger Sonic to kick his head clean off. Metal Sonic's headless body vanished into thin air.

"Is that normal for robots in the future?"

Tails shook his head. "He couldn't have just disappeared."

"Well, I hate to tell you this, but that's what happened."

"Is that why my EMP didn't work?" That question was quickly crowded out by others. "Why are you here? How did you even get here?"

"Oh well, interesting story. Tell me, do you remember Eggman finding this mysterious gemstone on Angel Island that somehow transported us from one place to another?"

"Um, no."

"Yeah that happened after our adventure with the Time Eater and I returned back to the past."

Tails rubbed his chin. "If that happened in the past then why don't I remember? Unless… if older Eggman told his younger self about his failed plans, then younger Eggman would have acted differently. That caused the timelines to diverge, so you are not from our past anymore, but a different dimension entirely!"

Sonic blinked. "Whoa… so what happened to this dimension?"

"I'll tell you on the way. I'd better take you to the others."

They got in the plane and flew to Angel Island. Younger Sonic agreed to help after hearing what happened. The two were walking into the resistance headquarters when they heard Espio call, "I got a heartbeat! He's alive!"


	5. Rodger

The Forces of Hope

"…and so, Tails says I'm now from another dimension." Younger Sonic was telling his story to the resistance while Tails worked to help the injured mobian that Silver brought in.

Silver now spoke up. "Dose this mean that the future I left behind is going to remain unchanged, no matter what I accomplish here?" He sounded sad.

"Maybe," Knuckles said, "but this dimension's future can still turn out better."

Silver nodded, though he still didn't look especially pleased at this revelation.

Then Rouge asked "So the history of our two dimensions is the same up until Eggman found that ruby right? Because if so, then there's an innocent hedgehog currently being held on Prison Island."

"Excuse me? Innocent?" Knuckles snorted. "Are we just going to ignore all the destruction he's caused over the last six months?"

"First of all, we don't even know if that's really Shadow. Second of all, he had done absolutely nothing before G.U.N. captured him and took him to Prison Island, so the Shadow in that other dimension is most definitely innocent."

Then Tails called to them, "Hey guys, he's waking up!"

Everyone crowed around the table. "Uhhh… Where am I?" A mobian bird with dark grey feathers and an emerald tee shirt looked at everyone around him, then down at himself. "What happened to my hands and feet?"

His legs from the knees down had been replaced with green metal. His hands were now a shiny blue-silver.

"Silver found you in the wreckage of a bakery that was stepped on by a giant robot." Tails told him.

"Partly my fault. Sorry." Silver apologized.

"Bad news is: your hands and feet were crushed, and we had to cut them off. Good news is: Tails was able to replace them with robot parts." Knuckles informed him.

The bird examined his new body parts.

"How do they feel?" Tails asked. "Can you move them okay?"

"I think so." He flexed his metal fingers, then stood up and took a few experimental steps. "It's a bit strange but, it's a lot better than being crippled, so I guess I can live with this. Thanks."

"So, you got a name?" Charmy asked.

"I'm Rodger. Rodger the Robin. I was actually the owner of that bakery that got stepped on. I've hiding in there for the past few months living off my inventory. Fortunately, I had restocked on ingredients just before Eggman took over."

"Well, since you're here, would you maybe be interested in joining the resistance?" Tails asked.

"I would, but I have no idea how to fight." Rodger said.

"I have a flamethrower I can give you." Tails offered.

"We have a few helmets laying around." Knuckles added.

"Well if you can teach me how to use the flamethrower, then yes I'd like to join."

"Alright then! Welcome to the resistance."

Knuckles set up a practice area with targets made from Eggman themed toys. "They're great stress relivers." Knuckles said as he tore the head off an Eggman plushie.

A couple of hours later, "I think he's ready." Knuckles said. "Hey Tails, do you see anything on the satellite?"

"Nothing yet. Wait, hold on. I see Shadow!"

"Where?"

"It looks like he's heading to one of the abandoned cities. He's alone."

"This is perfect! We can ambush him."

"Not before I talk to him you won't." Rouge asserted.

"But then it won't be a surprise attack!" Knuckles protested.

"I'm talking to him and you can't stop me." Rouge took off.

Knuckles gestured to Silver. "Come on, let's go before she gets herself killed."

"I want to come too." Rodger said.

"Are you sure rookie? Shadow's pretty dangerous."

"Trust me, I'm aware of how dangerous he is. I knew the day would come when he'd betray us. I can't believe how many people actually thought he wanted to help us."

"Fine, you can come. But be careful."

Rodger nodded, and they set off.

* * *

"Okay guys. Shadow should be just around the corner."

They saw Shadow digging through a large box in a hardware store. They saw Rouge approaching.

"Hey, Shadow! Is that actually you? If it is, I want to talk to you."

Shadow stopped rummaging and looked at her. Seeing that Shadow was distracted, Rodger took his chance and charged, spraying flames. Shadow jumped out of the way.

"What are you doing? Rouge yelled. "Stop!"

"He was about to kill you!" Rodger yelled back.

"No, he wasn't!"

Knuckles and Silver came out of hiding. Silver immobilized Shadow with his powers. Knuckles raced towards him with his fist raised. Shadow teleported out of the trap and appeared behind Silver. The black hedgehog kicked him in the head, then ran back to the box he was digging through and teleported away with it.

"Aw, we almost had him!" Knuckles griped.

"You idiots! You scared him away!" Rouge shouted angerly.

"Us, scared him? If we hadn't shown up, he would have killed you!" Rodger yelled.

"Shadow is my friend! You've never even met him! You don't know anything about him!"

"I'd say I learned plenty about him during that alien invasion!"

"Whoa guys!" Silver said. "We're not going to accomplish anything by arguing. Let's just head back to base and figure out our next move."

They started heading back. Rodger thought about Rouge. _How could she be so blind? Shadow is clearly evil. And speaking of things that don't make sense, what was Shadow doing in a random hardware store?_


	6. Within the Shadows

The Forces of Hope

Shadow pushed his box of newly found supplies into a cave. "Ugh, those idiots. Well, except for Rouge. At least one person bothers to ask questions before shooting at me."

He pushed the box up against a work bench. "Okay, Omega, I got some new stuff for you. Hopefully, something here will work."

The broken pieces of Omega scattered across the table did not respond. Shadow went to work trying to repair the damage. "Stupid Eggman. It's because of him that I have to hide out here in the middle of nowhere like this. Although, it did give me the perfect opportunity to gain some valuable information."

* * *

Six months ago…

 _Why is everyone shooting at me?_ Shadow wondered to himself. _HQ isn't responding and everyone I run into freaks out and tries to kill me._

He finally made it back to HQ and found it in ruins. _What happed here?_ He quickly got an answer as a figure walked out the smashed in door.

It was… himself.

Now things were starting to make sense. But, where did this faker come from?

The fake Shadow spoke into a communicator. "The area is secure Lord Eggman."

 _Perhaps a good beat-down will convince this faker to cough up some answers._ Shadow waited for the fake to hang up before pouncing. He delivered a solid punch to the nose. The fake fell backward, and Shadow pinned him down with his foot.

"Who are you? Where did you come from?"

The imposter did not respond to the questions. Instead he lifted his arm and fired a chaos spear at Shadow's head. Shadow tilted his head to the side to avoid the blast. "Not talking huh? Well, how about this?"

Shadow ignited the rockets in the shoe that was pinning the faker down. However, his opponent did not cry out in pain. He simply stared back at Shadow as he burned a hole in his chest. Disturbed, Shadow turned off the rockets and stepped back.

"What are you?"

The imposter stood back up. "I am Shadow the Hedgehog."

Shadow clenched his fists. "No, you're not! Chaos… Control!"

The fake hedgehog became frozen in time. Shadow rushed up to him and kicked him in the face. The time freeze ended, and the fake teleported. Shadow spun around and lashed out, hitting the fake as he reappeared.

"Seriously? I invented that trick!" Shadow decided that this was enough. "Chaos… Blast!"

The blast sent the fake flying to slam against a concrete wall. The fake vanished.

Shadow blinked. "What? Where did he go?" That hadn't looked like a Chaos Control. There was no tell-tale green flash. The fake had simply disappeared.

His confusion was interrupted when he heard a voice. "Well done, Shadow." Eggman floated down in his Eggmobile. "This is the perfect location for the Eggmanland capital building! Once you clean up the mess you made, of course."

 _Eggman thinks I'm the imposter!_ _This could be my chance to find out what's going on._ But for the moment, Shadow needed to play along.

He saluted the doctor. "As you wish, Lord Eggman."

* * *

Present day…

"The things I had to do for that doctor…"

Cleaning up the blood and bodies of dozens of dismembered G.U.N. soldiers had only been the start. Shadow didn't know what bothered him more, that they were in pieces, or that the method used to kill them was exactly the one he would have used. It was fortunate that most of them had been away before the fake struck.

"But once I get you up and running Omega, it'll all be worth it."

Shadow hit the activation switch and waited anxiously. Omega's body sparked and jerked, but then went limp. Shadow slumped. This was hopeless. He just wasn't good enough with machines.

"Well, Omega, it looks like we have no choice. We need that fox kid."


	7. Questions and Answers

The Forces of Hope

The resistance was debating on what they should do next.

"We need to find Sonic!" said Amy.

"No, what we need to do is track down Shadow and find out what's going on with him!" Rouge argued.

"Will you just accept that Shadow is evil already?" Knuckles yelled.

"Can we just do _something_ already? I'm bored!" younger Sonic complained.

"Will all of you stop yelling? I'm trying to think!" Tails yelled at them.

"We don't even know if that's the real Shadow destroying everything! It could just be another android!"

"Uh, guys?"

"What makes you so sure it's not the real Shadow?"

"Guys?"

"Because it just doesn't make sense!"

"Is everyone just going to forget about Sonic?"

"Guys, Shadow's on the island!"

Everyone shut up and looked at Vector. He pointed at the security monitors, which showed Shadow running around the island.

"No one attack him until I ask him some questions first." Rouge asserted.

Rodger face palmed. "Seriously? This again? He's obviously here to kill us!"

Before they could debate this any longer, Shadow burst into the room. He before anyone could react, he had grabbed Tails. Shadow pulled out his chaos emerald and prepared to teleport away. Rodger was right next him and not about to let him get away a second time. He lunged at Shadow, and was caught in the Chaos Control. The three of them disappeared.

Knuckles looked at Rouge. "Still think Shadow isn't evil?"

Rouge slapped him.

* * *

Tails found himself in the middle of a rocky canyon. He looked at Shadow. Shadow looked at Rodger. Rodger pointed his flamethrower at Shadow.

"Let go of him!"

"And if I don't, you're gonna torch us both?"

Rodger realized this was a very good point. "Um, well…"

"Get that thing out of my face."

Shadow pushed Rodger aside and pulled Tails into a nearby cave. He plopped him down in front of a work bench.

"Fix him."

Tails recognized the robot immediately. "You know, you could have just asked instead of kidnapping me."

"Really? Because lately, every time I approach people, they attack me."

"So, you aren't helping Eggman?" Tails asked.

"It's a long story." Shadow turned around and looked at Rodger, who still had his flamethrower ready. "Do you want to hear it, or do you want to get into a fight you can't win?"

"I really suggest you listen." Tails advised.

"Okay, fine. Start talking." Rodger said, not lowering the flamethrower.

Shadow told them everything that had happened to him up until he came to work for Eggman. "Since then, I've been gathering intel, trying to fix Omega, and sabotaging Eggman when I can get away with it."

"So, what have you learned?" Tails asked.

"The most important thing I found out is how Eggman created that faker. He's found a new gemstone, one that can create illusions so real, that they can do real harm. He calls it the Phantom Ruby."

Rodger scoffed. "Illusions? You expect me to believe that?"

"Actually," Tails said, "it would explain a lot about the fight we had with Metal Sonic."

Shadow nodded. "Metal Sonic, Zavok, and Chaos are all illusions. The same goes for most of Eggman's army."

Shadow went on. "There's another sort of illusion that's a bit harder to explain. Eggman's new minion, Infinite, can use the Ruby to trap your mind in a sort of… virtual reality I suppose. He used this to make me think I was running through Green Hill when I was actually running out into a desert. Since these illusions can hurt, the consequence was very much like I was in two places at once, but I could only see and react to one of them. I'm probably very lucky I didn't run off a cliff or otherwise hurt myself."

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?" Tails asked.

"Would you have listened?"

"Uh, maybe?" Tails stuttered, trying to imagine how the others would have acted, and looked at Rodger still pointing his flamethrower at Shadow. "Maybe not."

"That's what I thought. Are you done yet?"

"I'm trying, you're not exactly suppling me with the best tools here."

"Just make do."

"Do you know where Sonic is?"

"No. I can't seem to find where Eggman's prison is. I did get a look at Eggman's calendar. He doesn't plan to kill Sonic until the first anniversary of the founding of his empire. So, we have about six months."

"But what kind of shape is Sonic in?" Tails worried.

Shadow looked away and seemed reluctant to give this next piece of news. "Some days on his calendar are labeled 'Torture Sonic'."

It had been a rough six months, and Tails was still young. This news was too much for him, and he started crying.

"Now, look what you did!" Rodger admonished.

"He asked a question, and I answered truthfully."

Shadow's communicator started beeping. "Oh, no. Everyone, shut up." He answered. "Yes, Lord Eggman?"

"Emergency meeting! Get over here!"

"Yes, Lord Eggman." Shadow hung up. "Okay, you stay here and keep working on Omega. And you, don't do anything stupid. If either of you hurts Omega, you're dead." He teleported away.

"Okay, he's gone. Let's get out of here." Rodger grabbed Tails.

Tails shook him off and wiped his eyes. "Not until we fix Omega."

"Are you seriously saying we should trust him? There's no proof that what he said was true!"

"Regardless of whether or not Shadow was being honest, Omega hates Eggman. He would be a big help to the resistance. Call the others and tell them I'm okay and what Shadow told us."

Rodger didn't actually have his communicator, but didn't say that. "You tell them. I'm going after Shadow."


	8. Operation: Dumbass

The Forces of Hope

Shadow arrived at Eggman's capital building, wondering what this emergency meeting was about. He entered the meeting room and stood at attention alongside Chaos, Zavoc, and Infinite.

Eggman entered. "Okay, listen up everybody! Over the past two hours, I've been hearing rumors that Sonic has been running around out there. I didn't believe these rumors because they're impossible. I checked. However, Metal Sonic has not returned from his patrol. And this is causing citizens to believe that Sonic is really back. We cannot allow this. These rumors will inspire people to rise up against me."

"Well then, show them the rumors are false." Infinite suggested. "Once they see how broken and defeated he is, their hope will shatter."

"Yes, but then they'll know for sure he's alive. Perhaps I should rearrange my schedule."

Shadow didn't like where this was going. There was nothing he do to dissuade Eggman though. Illusions were here to listen, not contribute. He watched carefully as Eggman pulled up his calendar.

"Let's schedule his execution for… tomorrow afternoon!"

Shadow knew he had to either rescue Sonic himself or somehow get this information to the resistance, and quickly.

"Now Infinite, create a new Metal Sonic." Eggman faced the illusions. "Zavoc, guard the main entrance. Chaos, you patrol the east side. And Shadow… get me a coffee."

"Yes, Lord Eggman." Silently seething, Shadow left the meeting room and headed towards the kitchen.

He passed by the security room, where Orbot and Cubot were watching the monitors. "Hey Orbot, look! There's this bird guy sneaking around!"

Shadow stopped.

"Well, we better sound the alarm, then."

Orbot reached for the button, only to have his head ripped off. Cubot's head came off half a second later. Shadow looked at the monitor. Rodger was moving through the halls, probably thinking he was super stealthy.

"What is he doing?"

Shadow grabbed the two broken robots and stuffed them into a filing cabinet. He then raced down the hallway, and quickly found Rodger.

"Do you have a death wish or something?" Shadow whisper-shouted, causing Rodger to have a heart attack.

"Gah! How'd you find me?"

Shadow dragged him down the hallway. "You showed up clear as day on the security cameras! I had to stop them from triggering the alarm, which is going to cause suspicion when the bodies are found. I hope you appreciate me endangering myself like this."

They reached the kitchen, and Rodger glared at Shadow. "I know you're up to something."

"Yeah, it's called saving your worthless life! But as long as you're here, you can take this information back to the resistance. Eggman has rescheduled Sonic's execution. It's happening tomorrow." Shadow said all this while making Eggman's coffee. "When I next get some free time, I'm smuggling you out of here. Stay out of sight, and for last time, don't do anything stupid!"

With that, Shadow stuffed Rodger in the fridge, took the coffee and spat in it, and went back to Eggman.

"Your coffee, Lord Eggman."

"Well it's about time." Eggman took the coffee. "Now go look for resistance members."

"Yes, Lord Eggman."

Shadow ran back to the kitchen, and found Rodger eating Eggman's pudding.

Shadow facepalmed. "Why do you keep doing stupid things, you dumbass?"

"What? I was hungry."

"Oh, you're hungry? Try going a week without food and then tell me how hungry you are!" Shadow dragged Rodger out of the fridge. "Eggman notices when other people take stuff from his fridge. Now put that back and let's get you out of here."

Shadow dragged Rodger down the hallway. "Okay, the cargo bay is right here. Now get in this crate and shut up." Shadow shoved Rodger inside and pushed the crate over to the train.

One of Eggman's robots stopped him. "What's your cargo?"

"Fifty pounds of Eggman's Mean Beans."

"Another shipment of Eggman's Mean Beans isn't in the schedule."

"Oh, you weren't informed of the schedule change?"

If the robot had eyelids, it would have blinked. "Schedule change?"

"Oh yes, everything's getting changed around because Lord Eggman moved up Sonic's execution. In fact, you should plug yourself into the data base and make yourself aware of all the changes."

"But I'm supposed to make this delivery to the spaceport."

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it." Shadow offered.

"Oh, well, thank you! Just load in that last crate and head on your way."

Shadow loaded the crate into the train, and then took the train out of the station.

"Okay, the coast is clear." Shadow let Rodger out of the crate.

"I'm super confused. So, if I hate you, and you hate me, and this is a big risk for you, then why are you doing it? Why not just kill me?"

"Because you're not evil. Just a dumbass. Also, the resistance needs this information. If you're the one who takes it back, then that frees me up to help from the inside. It's a few hours until we reach the spaceport so, wake me when we get there."

Shadow lay down on the floor and fell asleep. Rodger stared at him, his mind completely blown. Shadow didn't look evil anymore. He looked exhausted. He really had been pretending to be an illusion. He had to deal with all of Eggman's demands while having very little time to eat and sleep. And on top of all that, Shadow still took the time to try to help Omega.

He was practically killing himself to help others, and Rodger had just made things harder for him.

Rodger sat down. _Shadow was right. I am a dumbass._


	9. Revelations

The Forces of Hope

Shadow jerked awake a few hours later with a gasp.

"Are you okay?" Rodger asked.

"I'm fine." Shadow said tersely

"I brought you some food, since you said you haven't had much to eat."

Shadow took the food and started eating. "For the record, if you're trying to poison me it's not going to work."

Rodger's eyes lowered guiltily. "I wanted to apologize. You're sacrificing far more than anyone else in the resistance. I'm sorry that I didn't see that. I'm sorry I made things worse for you."

"It wouldn't be the first time I saved the world, and no one gave me any credit. I save the world from an alien invasion, and who gets the credit?"

"Well according to all the newspapers, that was Sonic."

"Exactly. Though, to be fair to Sonic, he did help out and he did try to set the record straight. But it didn't matter. According to the media, I'm just a monster."

"Well, didn't you help lead that invasion?"

"I did at first. But you see, I was suffering from amnesia at the time. I was collecting the chaos emeralds to try and restore my memories. When I entered the city, the solders started shooting at me for no reason I could see. The alien leader used that to convince me that the humans were the evil ones. I wanted to regain my memories, so I could better understand what was going on. But, when I got them all back, I was even more unsure of what to do. I realized that whatever I decided to do next would decide the fate of all humanity. I could help the aliens wipe out humanity, I could wipe out the aliens, or I could sit back and watch them destroy each other. Did the humans even deserve to be saved? All they wanted to do was hurt me."

Shadow took a deep breath. "But then I thought of Omega. You see, Omega was build by Eggman. He was created to kill me. But Omega refused. He hated being stuck with the boing job, and decided he wanted to kill Eggman. And since both me and him were both looking for Eggman, we teamed up. It was Rouge that declared us a team. We've been together ever since. If a trigger-happy robot who solves every problem by shooting it, and was specifically build to kill me, could become my best friend because we had a common goal, then maybe the rest of the world could too."

It was most Rodger had ever heard Shadow say. "Wow."

"Most people don't get to hear all that. You should feel honored." Shadow sighed. "And now, because of Eggman, all the progress I've made has gone straight down the toilet. At lease Rouge still trusts me."

"Yeah, she's been arguing with everyone about you. Including me."

"Yeah, well… wait a minute. Where did you get this food?"

"I found it in one of the crates."

"This cargo is heading to a spaceport operated by robots. Why is Eggman sending food there?"

"Maybe he's sending it into space?" Rodger suggested.

"The only thing out in space is the Death Egg. That's it! That's where Eggman's prison is! That's why I could never find it, I was searching the planet for it!"

They saw the spaceport coming up. "This is where you get off. Get this information to the resistance and hurry!"

Rodger jumped off the train. Shadow watch as Rodger faded from view. "Good luck, dumbass. Don't do anything stupid."

* * *

Tails returned to Angel Island with the last of Omega's pieces. He heard Rouge telling Knuckles "I told you so!" for the hundredth time.

"I get it!" Knuckles said loudly.

"I'm back." said Tails. "Where did you put all my tools?"

"Over there." Knuckles gestured to the pile of stuff he and Silver had gotten from the workshop.

Tails sighed. "It's gonna take me forever to find anything!"

Meanwhile, the rest of the resistance was talking about the information Tails gave them.

"So, Eggman has a magic stone that can alter the laws of reality?" Vector asked. "What chance do we have against that?"

Younger Sonic spoke up. "You know, this sounds a lot like the stone my Eggman had. The one that got sucked through that vortex with me. I think it's the same one."

"Wait." Silver said. "Wasn't Eggman finding that stone the thing that split the timeline?"

Sonic jumped to his feet. "Yeah, and if that didn't happen in this timeline…"

"Then that means there is another Phantom Ruby here on Angel Island!" Silver finished.

Younger Sonic ran over to Knuckles and grabbed his wrist. "Come on, Kuncklehead! We're going treasure hunting!"


	10. Execution

The Forces of Hope

Younger Sonic dragged Knuckles over to a particular spot on the island. "Dig here!"

Knuckles dug down into the island. After a couple of minutes, he came up with a red gemstone. "Is this it?"

"Yeah, that's it!"

"Okay, so how do we use it?" Knuckles asked.

"I… have no idea."

Knuckles gave younger Sonic a flat look. "Real helpful."

Espio ran over. "Guys? You need to see this."

They returned to base to see the TV set to the only available channel, Egg TV.

Eggman appeared on screen. "This is the Egg TV network bringing you breaking news! I am pleased to announce that tomorrow at 3pm, Sonic the Hedgehog will be executed, live!"

Amy whirled on Silver. "You didn't say anything about this!"

"It didn't happen this way! We must have changed something."

"Well, what happened last time?" Espio asked.

"Sonic was executed on the anniversary of the founding of Eggman's Empire."

"When were you going to tell us this?" Knuckles demanded.

"I thought we would have found Sonic by then!"

"Well, unless we find out where Sonic is right now, we can't save him!" Knuckles sounded just as devastated as he did angry as he shook Silver.

Rodger burst into the hideout. "Guys! I know where Sonic is!"

He quickly explained the situation.

"The Death Egg?" Vector asked in dismay. "How are we supposed to get up there?"

"I think that's the point." Charmy said.

"We're gonna need a spaceship." Tails declared.

"We have neither the parts nor the time to build one." Espio pointed out.

"Then I guess we need to borrow one from Eggman." Rouge winked.

"I think I know someone who can help us with that." Rodger said.

* * *

The next day…

Shadow tuned his communicator the resistance's frequency. "Okay, me and Eggman have already left the spaceport. I turned off the alarms so that they can't signal him."

"Okay guys, let's do this." Knuckles led younger Sonic, Rodger, Espio, Amy, and Tails into the spaceport. "Tails, you're the pilot here. Which one should we take?"

"The small one! Smaller ship equals smaller target."

"Alright. Ready? Charge!"

The group rushed forwards.

"Intruders! Intruders! It's the resistance, sound the alarm!"

The alarm did not sound.

"Sound the alarm! Sound the-"

The robot was destroyed. Everyone crammed inside the spaceship.

"Three, two, one, lift off!" Tails launched the ship.

* * *

Eggman walked into Sonic's cell. "How's my favorite prisoner doing?"

Sonic did not answer. The muzzle prevented it.

"Today is a very special day!" Eggman smiled sadistically. "The time has come at last for you to die!"

Sonic glared weakly, but defiantly.

"Infinite, bring Sonic over to the stage."

Infinite attached a leash to the collar around Sonic's neck and dragged him over to a stage with cameras pointed at it. There was a dunk tank of the sort that might be seen at a carnival in the center of the stage. The sight of it caused Sonic to start shaking.

"And we're live in three, two, one!"

"Welcome to the special Egg TV broadcast that you are required by law to watch! Now, you might have heard few rumors that Sonic is out running free! I assure you, these rumors are false, because Sonic is right here! Say hi to the camera, Sonic!"

The camera zoomed in on a bruised and bloody hedgehog. Heavy bags under his eyes contrasted sharply against his pale muzzle. His fur was dull and matted. Shackles bound his wrists and ankles, preventing him from running. The chains rattled as he continued to stare in wide-eyed terror at the dunk tank.

"Now I've spent hours and hours, trying to find the perfect way to execute him. Should I put him in the electric chair? Should I chop off his head? But then the choice became obvious. Hey Sonic, do you feel like going for a swim?"

A whine rose from Sonic's throat.

"Infinite, will you please take Sonic to his seat?"

Sonic tried to resist the tugging of the leash, but Infinite pulled hard and caused him to fall over. The jackal did not wait for Sonic to get back up and dragged him across the floor to the dunk tank.

"I have to warn you, Sonic, I'm very good at this game. Now do you have any last words?" Eggman asked mockingly. "I guess not."

Sonic was positioned in the seat above the tank. He curled up as best he could with his restraints. Eggman strolled over to a pile tennis balls. He had just picked one up when the camera robot spoke up.

"Lord Eggman, we lost the signal."

"What? Fix it!"

By his place near the wall, Shadow tried to make eye contact with Sonic. Sonic looked at him with betrayal and fear in his eyes.

"It looks like the wires to the camera were cut."

"Cut? How is that possible?"

Then the door flew off its hinges. A snarling red echidna followed, with a band of pissed off mobians behind him. Sonic's eyes lit up.

"Infinite! Do something!" Eggman ordered.

Infinite raised his hands and conjured a wall between the stage and the door. Suddenly, Shadow slammed into Infinite from behind, and bashed the jackal's head against the new wall.

"Shadow! You…!" Eggman was stunned speechless.

Infinite turned to face Shadow. "So, you're still alive? I thought you seemed different from the others."

The wall was smashed apart by Amy's hammer. "I'm coming Sonic!"

Eggman rushed towards the tank and slammed his hand down on the button. "Too late!"

Sonic plunged into the water below.


	11. Escape the Death Egg

**Merry Christmas guys! Here's your present!**

The Forces of Hope

Amy ran towards the tank, but was grabbed by Zavoc. He started crushing her with his bare hands. Espio appeared seemingly out of nowhere on Zavoc's shoulder and drove a shuriken into his eye. The illusion disappeared.

Younger Sonic rushed into the room. "Hey, other Egghead!"

Eggman's mouth hung open. Metal Sonic charged.

"Didn't I already kick your head off the other day?" Younger Sonic and Metal raced around the room in blurs of blue.

"Two Sonics. Error! Error!" Metal replied before slashing his claws at him.

Rodger shot flames at Chaos, but the creature just swatted the flame thrower away.

"Go for the brain!" Knuckles called as he ran past.

Rodger reached into Chaos's head and squeezed the brain in his metallic fist. Chaos battered Rodger with watery fists until it disappeared.

Infinite knocked Shadow against the wall. "You are foolish to challenge my power a second time."

"You mean the power to hide behind illusions like a coward?" Shadow spat back.

"Shut your mouth, you-"

He was interrupted by a Chaos spear to the face.

Eggman finally put his mind back together. "Why is there a second Sonic?" He yelled to no one in particular.

"Oh, you know, space-time stuff." Younger Sonic answered while spindashing Metal Sonic.

While all this was going on, Knuckles made a beeline for the dunk tank. Sonic was struggling weakly inside it. Knuckles roared as he slammed a fist into the glass, shattering it. The water swept Sonic into Knuckles, knocking him down.

Eggman was in a rage. "Somebody stop him!"

Knuckles picked himself and Sonic up and started running back the way he came. "I got Sonic! Let's go!"

The resistance followed Knuckles. Rodger looked back and saw Shadow still fighting Infinite. Shadow was losing.

Rodger called to the others. "Shadow needs help!"

Knuckle's voice came back. "There's no time! We have to get Sonic out, now!"

Rodger looked back and saw Infinite dragging a limp Shadow onto the stage. Eggman pulled out a laser gun and walked up to him.

"Well, at least I can execute one annoying hedgehog today!"

Shadow looked up at Eggman. "I spit in your coffee."

Eggman growled and leveled the laser. Before he could fire, the room was plunged into darkness.

"What happened to the lights?" Eggman demanded.

Then, there was a light. It was the light of Rodger's flamethrower setting the stage on fire.

Eggman panicked and jumped off the stage. Infinite saw that Shadow was gone. He looked towards the exit and saw Shadow and Rodger running away.

* * *

"Okay, let's get out of here!" Knuckles said, running into the ship.

"Wait, where's the rookie?" Espio asked.

"Oh no, what's he doing this time?" Knuckles asked.

"We don't have time to wait! We have to get Sonic some help, now!" Amy shouted.

"Tails, punch it!" Knuckles ordered.

Tails punched it. The ship rocketed towards Angel Island.

Shadow and Rodger ran into the landing bay and saw the ship already well on its way.

"Okay, there has to be another way off this station." Rodger said.

They turned around, and saw Infinite.

"Looks like your friends left without you."

Rodger looked at Shadow. "Now what do we do?"

Shadow removed his rings. "Get back."

Infinite scoffed. "You took off your fashion accessories. I'm so scared."

"You should be."

Shadow moved too fast for Rodger too see. He heard several cries of pain from Infinite, then it was over. Shadow collapsed, unconscious.

Infinite crawled out of a jackal shaped depression in the floor. Rodger knew reinforcements were coming, and he grabbed Shadow and ran for the other ship in the landing bay. This ship was much larger and fancier than the one he came in on, and had "Egg Typhoon" printed on it.

Rodger got in the pilot's seat and realized that he had no idea how to fly it.

"Which one of these is the start button?"

He started hitting random switches, and soon the engines roared to life. Rodger grabbed the steering mechanism and attempted to maneuver the ship. There was a screech of metal as he scraped it against the side of the landing bay. A bunch of robots ran into the hanger and started firing at the ship. Rodger found a button labeled "Autopilot" and hit it. The ship exited the hanger.

"Please select a destination." Eggman's voice asked.

"Angel Island!"

"Plotting course: Angel Island."

Shadow started to wake up. "Ohhhh…"

"Are you okay, Shadow?"

"Didn't I tell you to stop doing stupid things?"

"A 'Thanks for saving my life' would have been nice."

"You almost died because of it!" Shadow snapped.

"You would have done the same for me!" Rodger shot back.

"Whatever." Shadow tried to stand up, but his legs wouldn't support him.

"Here, let me help you. I'm sure there's a bed or something on this ship somewhere."

Rodger half carried Shadow until they found a large bed that was undoubtedly meant for Eggman. Shadow crawled onto it and was immediately asleep.

"Get some rest. You've earned it."


	12. Battle Scars

**Sorry for the late chapter. For some reason, the Doc Manager wouldn't let me upload yesterday.**

 **Mini-rant, feel free to skip. My single biggest problem with Forces is having Sonic be completely unaffected by his supposed "torture." This shattered my suspension of disbelief. I understand why they couldn't get too graphic, but could they really not have made him just a little bit upset about it? But noooo, the most negative emotion we see from Sonic is a sort of board annoyance right before he's freed, and then it's business as usual. That's not going to happen here. Prepare yourselves for angst people!**

The Forces of Hope

The resistance members who hadn't gone on the rescue mission were examining the Phantom Ruby.

Charmy poked it with a stick. "Nope, that didn't do anything."

"Do something!" Vector ordered it. It did nothing.

Rouge just stared at it, entranced.

Silver, who was on lookout duty, ran in. "They're back!"

Knuckles and Amy rushed in, carrying Sonic.

Younger Sonic was on their heels. "Someone get this man a chilidog, STAT!"

"This is serious!" Knuckles snapped.

The red mobian tore the restrains off Sonic, ripped them into smaller pieces, and threw them on the floor and stomped on them while swearing angrily in ancient Echidnian.

Sonic looked around dazedly. He seemed about to say something, but instead of words, a sob broke out. The sound brought Knuckles's tirade to a crashing halt.

Sonic was crying.

Knuckles's anger dissipated, leaving remorse. He stepped forward and awkwardly put his arms around Sonic. "I'm sorry we didn't find you sooner."

Tails and Amy joined Knuckles in hugging Sonic. Sonic cried until he was exhausted, which didn't take very long. The others then focused on cleaning him up and applying bandages where appropriate.

Silver screamed. "Eggman ship incoming! We're under attack!"

Knuckles ran outside, ready to fight. Silver was throwing big rocks at the ship, but they bounced off its defensive shields. The ship landed, and Rodger came out.

"Thanks for leaving us." He said sarcastically.

Knuckles blinked. "You stole Eggman's ship?"

"I may have crashed into a couple of walls, but yes. Also, I rescued Shadow."

"What do you mean you rescued Shadow? Why did you two come back on a different ship?" Rouge asked, glancing suspiciously at Knuckles.

"There wasn't enough time; the priority was Sonic." Knuckles defended.

"You were just going to leave him? And the rookie?"

"The rookie chose to stay behind! And besides, Shadow can take care of himself."

"Actually," Rodger interjected, "Shadow was pretty tired before that fight even started. I had to drag him out of there. He's passed out back there in the ship and I think this is the first real bed he's slept in in the past six months."

Rouge gave Knuckles the glare of death.

"…I'm going to check on Sonic." Knuckles went back inside.

Rouge went up to Rodger. "How is he?"

"I think he just needs sleep. By the way, I wanted to say I'm sorry. You were right, I really didn't know anything about him."

"Well, at least you aren't being stubborn and prideful like Knuckles. We should leave Shadow alone for now."

The two went inside.

* * *

"This is all your fault!" Eggman screamed at Infinite. "How could you let them escape?"

"If you had given me full access to the Ruby's power, this wouldn't have happened."

"On, no! No way! Not going to happen! Every time I give one of my allies too much power and freedom, they end up backstabbing me! Did you think those four were chosen at random? The Ruby stays with me!"

"What _is_ your plan then?" Infinite said impatiently.

"We return to the capital and wait for them to come to us. And when they do, we'll wipe them out all at once!"

"And how do you intend to do that?"

Then Eggman smiled. "I'll use my imagination."

* * *

Sonic woke up. Immediately, he heard a shriek.

"He's awake!"

Everyone crowded around him. He saw the friends he had missed so much while imprisoned. He also saw himself, which caused him to wonder if this was a dream and he was still back in that cell.

"Oh, you're probably wondering why I'm here. Long story short, I fell through a vortex and wound up here." Younger Sonic explained. "Also, I'm from another dimension instead of the past now."

"How do you feel?" Tails asked.

"I..." Sonic's voice was raspy from disuse, and he seemed faintly surprised that he could talk at all. "I feel dizzy."

"Have some water."

Sonic shrank back. "Please don't!"

Everyone looked at him in shock.

"Eggman must have said something similar while torturing him." Rouge concluded. "Sonic, no one here is going to hurt you."

It took several reassurances, but Sonic relaxed enough to accept the drink. They got him to drink some broth too before he fell asleep again.

Tails took Rouge aside. "How did you know?"

"I've dealt with this sort of thing before. You're going to have to be very careful with what you do and say around Sonic. Even so, there's going to be nightmares and flashbacks. Do you know what flashbacks are?"

Tails nodded, and Rouge continued. "Listen whenever he wants to talk. Leave him alone whenever he wants to be alone. Don't make any sudden moves or touch him without warning. Make sure he knows that any damage he causes during flashbacks and nightmares is not his fault. I recommend investing in heavy-duty quill-proof bedding. You might also want to consider having him see a therapist when this is all over."

Tails made mental notes of everything Rouge said. "Thanks. I'll tell the others."

"It'll get better eventually. You just have to keep reminding Sonic that he's safe and that you're here for him. Trust me, I speak from experience."


	13. Shared Pain

The Forces of Hope

Shadow stretched, luxuriating in the feeling of laying on something soft. He had slept deeply and peacefully, and felt much better for it. Then he realized that Eggman had probably slept on this bed at some point, and abruptly decided that he'd had enough of laying around.

It was dark outside. Shadow didn't see Omega around, and figured Tails hadn't finished fixing him yet. As Shadow contemplated how to pass the time until morning, he saw Sonic making his way outside. He cleared his throat to announce his presence, and Sonic jumped.

"Shadow! You… helped get me out. But you also attacked me. Why?"

"I'm not the one that attacked you. That one was a fake. Aren't you supposed to be resting?"

"I just needed to be outside." Sonic hunched his shoulders in expectation of punishment, but Shadow just nodded in understanding. "What did you mean when you said the one that attacked me was fake?"

"Didn't the others tell you?"

"I've been… out of it." Sonic said, blushing as he remembered how he had fallen apart.

Shadow summarized everything for Sonic. He couldn't help but notice how quiet Sonic was being, and pointed it out.

Sonic rubbed a hand over his face, where the muzzle had left red marks. "It's hard to remember that talking is an option now. Back… back there the muzzle was taken off only for meals and if I spoke, then it was put right back on again and I had to go hungry."

"There's no muzzles here, and there's plenty of food whenever you want it."

"I know." Sonic sat with his knees pulled to his chest and glanced around nervously. "It just, it still doesn't feel like I'm really out, you know?"

"Yes Sonic, I know that feeling exactly. I know what it feels like to constantly expect something to jump out of nowhere and hurt you, even though you're in the safest place in the world. I know what it's like to wake up from a nightmare and be too afraid to go back to sleep."

Sonic gaped. "How did you…?"

"It's not that difficult to guess, given what you've just been through. Point is, I've been there. I understand. Not perfectly, but better than anyone else on this island."

Sonic fingered a bandage on his wrist. "How did you get better? How did you stop feeling so afraid all the time?"

"Look for things that sooth and calm you. Whenever I felt anxious, I liked to wrap myself in a soft blanket with some hot chocolate and a good book. This might help you too, or you might find something else that works better for you. The thing that helped most though, is knowing that I could rely on Rouge and Omega. Never forget that you have people who would fight to protect you. Strong people too. Being able to talk to them about things helped too, if only because it gave them a greater understanding of what I felt. However, don't feel as if you have to talk about what you experienced if it's too upsetting."

Sonic looked askance at him. "You're being weirdly nice."

Shadow huffed. "I'm not _that_ much of an asshole."

"So then, can I tell you something?" At Shadow's 'go ahead' gesture, Sonic took a deep breath and confessed, "I want Eggman dead."

Sonic once again braced himself for punishment, but Shadow simply said, "So does Omega. For that matter, so do I. And at this point, I think every court in the land would agree that Eggman deserves the death sentence just for what he's done in the past six months, never mind all the other crimes he's committed."

"Maybe, but I still feel ashamed of myself for wanting that."

"After everything Eggman's done to you, it's only natural that you would want him dead, if only to ensure that he can't hurt you anymore."

"You won't tell the others, right?"

"I won't tell anybody anything without express permission from you."

They fell silent as they watched the sun rise.

* * *

"Okay guys, it's time we have a serious talk about the situation." Knuckles opened the meeting. "Now I'm sure most of us were expecting Sonic to lead us to victory."

Shadow snorted. "Idiots. He was held prisoner for six months. Frankly, I'm surprised he's not in worse shape."

"Thank you for your input, Shadow." Knuckles growled, mildly annoyed.

"Sonic will get better eventually, right?" Amy asked.

"He will, but it's going to take a long time." Rouge said.

"Yeah well, we don't have a long time." Knuckles pointed out. "We're going to have to do this without him."

"How are we supposed to win without Sonic?" Vector asked.

"Because we now know how Eggman's been winning." Silver explained. "If we can get that Ruby away from him, we can win."

"Yeah, speaking of which… Tails! Have you figured out what our Ruby does?" Knuckles called to Tails.

"Unfortunately, no. These readings are all over the place!"

"Have you fixed Omega yet?" Shadow asked impatiently.

"Uh… I've got good news and bad news." Tails said nervously. Shadow glared, and he hurried on. "So, the good news is I've completed all the necessary repairs."

"…And the bad news?" Shadow asked.

"Well, due to the improvised parts I've had to use, Omega's memory chip no longer fits in his head. Luckily, I was able to make a smaller chip and am downloading Omega's memories onto it. It's just… taking a while."

"How long?"

"Well, I started it an hour ago and it's only 23% done."

"Well, that's just great. Another thing we don't have time to wait for." Knuckles griped. "Eggman is not gonna be happy that Sonic escaped. He's going to be coming for us. He considered us a minor annoyance before, but after what happened on the Death Egg, he'll throw everything he's got at us. What's more, the fact that Rodger was able to use the autopilot on that ship to get here means that Eggman is able to locate this place more easily than we had previously thought."

"So, what's the plan?" Espio asked.

"We're going on the offensive."


	14. Return of the Blue Blur

The Forces of Hope

"Okay, guys, everyone in the ship!" Knuckles herded everyone onto the Egg Typhoon. The ship had been chosen for its superior defensiveness and weaponry.

He stopped the younger Sonic. "You're not coming."

"What? Why?"

"Someone needs to stay behind and watch our Sonic. If Eggman comes while we're gone, someone needs to protect him."

"Why does it have to be me?"

"Because no one knows Sonic better than you. You need to guard him, and make sure he stays hydrated."

"So, you're saying I have to babysit myself? My older self? My alternate dimension older self?"

"Not exactly what I would call it, but yes." Knuckles boarded the ship and it took off.

"Well, this is stupid."

Younger sonic went to check on Sonic and found him in bed. The other was staring silently at the ceiling.

"If you need anything, I'll be watching TV."

Sonic did not respond.

* * *

"Okay everyone, what's our status?" Knuckles asked.

"I've destroyed or defaced every Eggman statue and painting on this ship." Charmy reported.

"Very good, but not exactly the information I had in mind. How close to the captial are we?"

"Twenty miles." Tails reported from the pilot's seat. "I'm gonna check on the Sonics."

* * *

Younger Sonic picked up his communicator. "Hello?"

"Hey, how are things going?" Tails asked.

"Terrible. The only thing on TV is this dumb cartoon called Eggman X."

"I meant with my brother."

"Oh. He's napping."

A scream sounded throughout the hideout.

"Never mind. Call you back."

Younger Sonic put the communicator down and ran in the direction of the scream. The older hedgehog nearly ran the other over as he bolted in a blind panic.

"Hey, wait!" Younger chased after older out of the hideout. He caught up to and tackled the other hedgehog. It was disconcerting, how easy it was to catch and pin down what should have the stronger of the two.

"It was a dream! Chill!"

"I'm good… I'm good." Older Sonic gasped out.

They went back inside. "You need some water."

"No! I-I just need rest!"

"You need water too! Especially after running."

Younger Sonic held out a cup of water. Older Sonic slowly reached out a shaking hand and took the cup. Once he had it, he just stared at it.

"It's not going to kill you."

Sonic did not drink, and kept staring.

"Seriously? You're afraid of a glass of water now?"

The older hedgehog flinched at the sudden loud noise, and dropped the water. The young one then face palmed.

"Okay, that's it. You and me are going on a field trip."

* * *

"Are sure it was a good idea to leave the other Sonic to care of our Sonic? Taking care of someone who's been traumatized requires a lot patience, and Sonic has absolutely none of that." Rouge asked.

"He knows how he thinks, so he'll know how to take care of him."

"He knows how he thought years ago, before he knew what it was like to be tortured."

An explosion rocked the ship.

"Tails, what's happening?"

"We got six bogeys!"

"Everyone to your battle stations!"

* * *

"Okay we're here. You remember this place?"

Sonic went rigid. They were in Hydrocity.

"You remember how Knuckles dropped us in here?"

Sonic took a step back, looking ready to bolt again.

"No, you don't." Younger Sonic took hold of the other's arm. "We're gonna leave here out the other side."

"I can't do this."

"Yes, you can, you already have! In fact, I went through this place a second time before I got sucked through that vortex! Or maybe it was an illusion, I'm not really sure. But either way, I still did it! Our dimensions might be different, but we are the same person! So, if I can do it, then so can you."

"You don't know-"

Younger Sonic cut him off, on a roll now. "Yeah, I do. You're afraid of water. You've been afraid ever since you almost drowned in that labyrinth. And then you almost drowned in those flooded ruins. And then you almost drowned right here! And I bet you've almost drowned several other times that I've yet to experience! But I still remember the first one. I though I was going to die. But I kept moving anyway, and the second time I found myself submerged in water, that same fear came right back. But once again, I kept moving forward anyway. I was scared when Knuckles dumped me down here! Heck, I'm scared of this place right now! You've never let water stop you before, why are you letting it stop you now?"

"Because now I've had someone deliberately torture me with it. That was far, far worse than that time in the labyrinth."

"So, you're just going to let Eggman win? You're just going to admit that he broke you?"

"He did break me! You think you're invincible, but you're not! No one is!"

"So, if Knuckles's plan fails you're just going to lay down and accept the fact that the world is doomed?"

Sonic couldn't think of anything to say to that.

"If you're not willing to face water, then you're not willing to face Eggman."

Sonic looked at the water.

He stepped in.

He sank to the bottom. He started to panic. His younger self dropped down beside him and took his hand.

And they started running.


	15. Breaking Illusions

The Forces of Hope

The two Sonics emerged from Hydrocity on the other side. Both were gasping for air.

Overwhelmed with terror and exhaustion, the older Sonic vomited before curling up in a shaking ball.

"I really didn't think that through." The younger Sonic was regretting his decision to run through such a terrifying place. "Curse my impulsiveness!"

After a long while the communicator started beeping franticly, and younger Sonic picked it up.

Tails's voice came through. "Sonic! We're taking heavy fire!"

The sound of an explosion burst through the speakers.

"We're going down! We're going-"

Silence.

"Tails? Tails?"

The older Sonic got up. "We have to go help them."

"You know, the quickest way there is back through Hydrocity right?"

Sonic glared at his younger self.

The two of them ran back into the water.

* * *

"Is everyone okay?" Silver called out.

Everyone crawled out of the wreckage of the ship.

"…six, seven, eight, nine! Okay, that's everybody!" Knuckles said.

"So, what's the plan now?" Vector asked.

"The plan is for you all to die!" Eggman floated in his hovercraft above them, with Infinite at his side. He lifted the Phantom Ruby, and a red beam shot into the sky.

An enormous, burning mass formed in the sky, like hell's fire itself.

"What is that?" Charmy shouted.

"I think… it's a sun!" Tails gasped.

"But, that thing's not real right?" Knuckles asked.

"It doesn't matter." Shadow said. "It can still kill us all."

"How are we supposed to destroy a sun?" Any screamed. "It'd vaporize us before we even got close!"

"You can't!" Eggman laughed. "I win!"

Knuckles leaned closer to Tails. "We could really use one of your brilliant ideas right now."

"We still have our Ruby. Maybe we can use it to make his illusions disappear?" Rodger suggested.

"Yeah, but we still don't know how it works!" Knuckles pointed out.

Eggman was too busy gloating to notice the huddle. Infinite noticed, but didn't care. Whatever they came up with would be useless. Nothing could match the power of the Phantom Ruby.

"Well Eggman seems to know how to use it." Rodger said.

"Well it's not like he's going to tell us."

"Knuckles you're a genius!" Tails exclaimed.

"Um, how?" Knuckles asked.

"Eggman's I.Q. might be big, but his ego is even bigger." Tails turned and yelled, "Hey Eggman! Can you really call this your victory?"

Eggman stopped celebrating and looked down at him. "What?"

"Well, you know, isn't Infinite the one who's been doing everything?"

Infinite looked at Eggman. "He has a point."

"No, he doesn't!"

"I don't know, he defeated Sonic, he wiped out the government, and created most of your army. I'd say that he's the one with the real power here."

"Listen here, you little pest! _I_ gave Infinite this power. _I_ coordinated the takeover of this planet! I CREATED A SUN JUST BY THINKING ABOUT IT! I AM A GOD!"

"You're also a dumbass." Rodger said as he lifted up the Phantom Ruby.

He concentrated on the sun, focused every thought on making it go away.

And the sun vanished.

Eggman's jaw hit the ground. Infinite stared in amazement. "A second Ruby…"

"I… did it. I obliterated the sun. I did it!"

Infinite rushed straight for him, grabbed the Ruby, and shoved him away.

"The ultimate power is mine!"

The Ruby glowed in his hands. Infinite started spawning an army made of Metal Sonics, Zavocs, Chaoses, and Shadows.

Then he looked directly at the real Shadow. "Now will teach you fear, then pain. And then, well at least the pain and fear will end."

"Yes Infinite! Crush them!" Eggman cheered.

Then suddenly, two high speed, blue balls of spikes slammed into the Eggmobile. The hovercraft went down, and crashed into the dirt.

Eggman coughed. "What now?"

"Hey, Egghead. Did you miss me?"

Eggman looked at the two Sonics. "You! And… the other you!"

"I believe I owe you six months' worth of payback." Sonic sounded unusually angry.

"Please don't turn into a buzzkill like that Shadow guy." Younger Sonic said.

"I'm going to turn you into ashes!" Eggman yelled.

The Phantom Ruby glowed in his hands, and a giant robot formed around him.

"That's a big robot." Younger sonic said.

"Introducing, the Egg Titan!"

It towered a thousand feet above them on long spider legs. Giant lobster claws extended out from the torso. Eight tentacles sprouted from its back. Its armor was colored a dark black. The head of the robot resembled Eggman's.

The hedgehogs ran.

Meanwhile, the resistance was battling the illusion army.

"There's too many of them!" Espio called.

"Just keep fighting!" Knuckles answered.

Infinite attacked Shadow ferociously. Shadow tried to doge, but wherever he went, something would appear out of the ether and strike him. Infinite flung Shadow across the battlefield. Shadow attempted to remove his rings, but then his hands were encased in a heavy block of concrete, weighing him down.

"Now that I have the full power of the Ruby, no one will ever defeat me again!"

Infinite conjured a sword. He raised it to decapitate Shadow, when something in the sky caught his attention. There was a small spacecraft heading straight towards him.

Infinite jumped out of the way as it crashed. He looked back, hoping Shadow had been crushed by it. He hadn't.

Shadow recognized the ship. It was the same ship Knuckles had used when getting up to the Death Egg. What was it doing here? Who was flying it?

The hatch exploded open. A large robot stepped out. "Enemy identified. Payback: inevitable."

"Omega!" Shadow stumbled over to his friend and leaned against him. The cement trapping his hands prevented him from properly hugging the robot, but he tried anyway.

"Friend identified. Shadow. It's good to see you."

"I hope it is, because it's the last time you'll see anything!"

The giant robot chased after the two Sonics, firing lasers from the tentacles on its back.

"What do we do?" The younger one cried.

"Normally for something this big, I go super!"

"But we don't have the emeralds!"

"Well, I guess we're doing this the old-fashioned way!"

Sonic turned around, ran up its leg, ran up its body, and homing attacked one of the tentacles. It broke into pieces. Younger Sonic followed his lead, running up the body and smashing another tentacle. Six remained. They jumped around the top of the robot's head, smashing away its tentacles.

"Get off of there!" Eggman yelled at them.

He spun the robot's head around, shaking them off. The two Sonic's dropped back to the ground. Older Sonic was starting to lag behind.

"You know, Egghead you should have thought out this design a little more." Younger Sonic taunted.

He spindashed a leg. It broke after a few hits, causing the robot to stumble. Older Sonic attacked another leg.

"Oh no, you don't!"

On of the claws reached for him. Sonic managed to dodge, and the claw smashed into the leg instead.

"Well looks like you stopped me! Way to go!" Sonic panted.

Eggman slammed his fists on the controls in frustration.

* * *

Omega fired his machine guns at Infinite. The jackal blocked the bullets with a shield.

"You tried that last time."

A sudden foot slamming into his head caused him to cry out. "Last time he didn't have help." Rouge flew to join her teammates. "It's great to have you back Omega."

"Then I guess I'll just have to separate you." Infinite snarled, and held up his Ruby.

* * *

A red light blinded Rouge, and when it cleared, she was alone. Wind whipped sand into her face, stinging her eyes. She was in the middle of a sandstorm.

"Shadow! Omega!" Sand flew into her throat and choked her. She curled inward trying to shield her face from the sand.

* * *

When the red light cleared from Shadow's eyes, he was alone in a blizzard. The cold shocked him, making him think of that dreaded cryo-chamber.

"Rouge! Omega!" The icy wind stole his breath, and he huddled in on himself for warmth.

* * *

Omega saw his teammates, curled into balls and calling desperately for him and each other. Rouge was coughing, and Shadow's voice was weak and shaking.

"I am right here!" He picked both of them up and started shaking them. They gave gasps of relief and reached blindly for him.

Shadow then realized what was going on. "Omega, if you can hear me, throw me at Infinite!"

Omega wound back his arm and chucked Shadow. Infinite, caught by surprise, was hit hard.

The blizzard disappeared, and Shadow found himself on top of Infinite. He raised his concrete covered hands and slammed them into Infinite's masked face, repeatedly. The concrete illusion broke, and Shadow kept punching him.

The mask finally broke. Shadow stood up and took the Ruby from his hands. "Looks like your mind tricks don't work on machines."

"Impossible. How could I lose again?"

"Because you're pathetic and sad and no magic rock is ever going to change that."

The army of illusions vanished.

A shot rang out, and Infinite died with a bullet in his head.

"Payback: acquired." Omega lowered his gun. "Let this be a lesson to anyone who dares to harm Team Dark!"

* * *

The two Sonics continued to take out the robot's legs, causing it to become slower and more unsteady. They charged and smashed into its head, and it toppled over. The robot disappeared, leaving Eggman in his Eggmobile.

"It's over Eggman, you lose."

Eggman's angry expression turned into a smile. "You forgot I still have my trump card!"

The gem glowed, and the large, empty plains became an ocean. Sonic began to choke on water. He panicked.

 _Nononono!_

He tried to struggle, but he was so tired…

Sonic could faintly hear Eggman's laughter. "Oh, this is so much better than the dunk tank! Do you know what you look like? Drowning without any water?"

Then Sonic remembered that this was an illusion. Eggman was still right in front of him. Sonic stood up on the ground he could no longer see. He walked forward, his hand reaching out.

Eggman watched, confused. "Is this thing still working?"

Sonic reached out and grabbed the Ruby. The water disappeared. He could breath again. He looked at Eggman whose face was now filled with fear.

There was a long moment in which Sonic stared into Eggman's eyes, his face a mask of rage. But then, all the physical exertion caught up to Sonic and he fainted.

Eggman tried to reclaim the Ruby, but the younger Sonic got to it first.

"Nu uh uh!" He said, waving his finger in Eggman's face.

Younger Sonic then grabbed his older self and ran. He ran back to the resistance, who had regrouped at the crashed ships.

"Hey guys, we just won!" He held up the Ruby and gestured his head at the other Sonic. "He's fine. Just needs a nap."

"Let's get him back to HQ." Knuckles decided.


	16. Hope

**And here's the end. Thank you to everyone who faved, followed, or reviewed. Special Thanks to everyone who faved, and followed me as an author. Extra special thanks to my brother, without whom this story would not exist.**

 **Not sure when or what I'll write next. It's not often that inspiration strikes for me.**

The Forces of Hope

Sonic woke to the sound of yelling.

"You could have gotten him killed, you idiot!" That was Shadow.

"I kept him from drowning!" That was his younger self.

"That's not the only way he could have died!"

Shocked silence.

"You're supposed to support him, not do the same things Eggman did."

"I…"

"You're an impatient, irresponsible little brat and I ought to-"

"Shadow, it's okay, please don't kill my younger self."

"What have you got to worry about? He doesn't grow into you anymore." Shadow looked at Sonic. "Did you really used to be this stupid?"

"Well, it all turned out fine didn't it?" Younger Sonic asked sullenly.

"That doesn't mean it was a good idea!"

Sonic wandered away from that, and went looking for Tails. He found the fox working on a strange looking device.

"Hey, Tails."

"Sonic!" Tails went to hug him then paused. "Is it okay if I hug you?"

"I actually could really use a hug right now."

Tails embraced Sonic. "How are you feeling?"

"Still pretty crappy. But we shouldn't be worrying about me right now. We should be getting everybody else off the Death Egg."

"Way ahead of you. We found some more ships and people and organized them into a relief effort for the prisoners of the Death Egg. Amy's reuniting with Big and Cream right now."

Sonic drew a sharp breath. "Cream was there? But she's just a child!"

"Take it easy Sonic! She's okay. You had it way worse than anybody else."

"Oh." Memories of what he had been through popped up in his head and he found himself tearing up. Sonic wiped his eyes and asked, "Hey, Tails, what are you working on?"

"I'm working on a device that will hopefully send younger you back home. Knuckles and the Chaotix are out looking for the emeralds to power it up."

Tails launched into a technobabble explanation of how it worked, and Sonic eagerly listened, happy to get back to his life.

* * *

Omega, Rouge, and Rodger were hanging out outside. Shadow slammed open the door and stomped over to join them.

"The sooner that other Sonic goes, the better."

"So, you found someone stupider than me?" Rodger asked.

Shadow looked at him. "There are thousands of people who are stupider than you. You're first person to ever apologize for your mistakes. G.U.N. still owes me fifty years' worth of apologies. Though I wish their end was a little less violent, I can't say I'm sorry to see them go."

"We were the only effective agents. It's not a big loss." Omega pointed out.

"Well now that we're putting the world back together, we're going to need a new military." Rouge mused. "Perhaps we could form a better one."

Shadow turned to Rodger. "How would you like to be the first new member of our nation's military?"

"Me? Really? I'm just a baker."

"You're also technically a war veteran." Rouge said.

"He has a flamethrower. He has my approval." Omega stated.

"Well, when you put it like that, then I guess I have to accept."

Shadow shook Rodger's hand. "Welcome to Team Dark."

* * *

Knuckles and the Chaotix returned with the last emerald. "We found it!"

"Great!" Tails took the emerald and put it into his machine. "Now if my calculations are right, this should send you back home."

"One moment." Rouge handed an envelope to the younger Sonic. "When you go to Prison Island, make sure Shadow looks at what's inside this envelope."

"Why?"

"Because if you don't, he'll try to destroy the world and kill everybody."

"…Okay."

"Everybody, stand back!" Tails activated the device.

A vortex opened up. Younger Sonic took one of the Phantom Rubies. "Well, see you all next time I get sucked through time and space!"

He ran through the portal.

"Okay, now that that's taken care of, time to put the world back together." Sonic said.

Vector raised his hand. "I nominate myself to be the next president."

And then everybody laughed and looked forward to the future with hope in their hearts.


End file.
